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When I’m in the market to buy a new cellphone it’s true that I consider almost everything except its usefulness as an actual phone. I bought my first cellphone, a Nokia, because it looked cool, a Motorola a year or so later because it was extremely small for the time, and my Palm Treo soon after, because I could download applications and play videos and music on it. Buying the iPhone was no different – it’s sleek, sexy, I can do more on it than any other cellphone I’ve ever owned, and I get really crappy service when I’m in my apartment. While I don’t have the luxury of having another phone with a different service like jefbot in today’s strip, it’s still worth it for all the cool stuff I can do with my iPhone. Except make calls from home.

I’ve seen people out and about talking on one phone, and they have another one ringing in their pocket. (Kinda like what’s going on in today’s strip.) It makes me laugh, but I’ve always figured there was a reason behind it.

I was given a Samsung Juke as an early Christmas present 2 years ago. It’s a cute little phone and all.. but it’s so small, and opens so strangely; that it reminds me of the Neuralyzers they used to erase everyone’s memory in Men in Black. This was a cute strip, and made me giggle. 😛

believe me, i’ve been tempted to get a 2nd phone, Spanky, but have managed to stop myself whenever those thoughts come up. i have so much junk in my pockets at any given time that i wouldn’t have space there anyway. 🙂

had to google the juke, and you’re right! i’d totally “flashy thing” my friends with that all the time.

This is response to Jeff and MeghanV : Yeah it’s funny to sit and make the noise the neuralyzers make, all while flipping the phone open and pretending to erase someones memory. It’s kinda lost it’s appeal, but when a silly mood strikes me (which can be quite often, because I’m still a little kid at times 😛 ) I go all out and just have fun with it. 😛

my mom has a stock flip-phone but doesn’t know how to use 90% of the features, Pixie. she says she accidentally takes pictures with it all the time. heheh. she does know how to make calls with it though, which is the important thing!

thanks for the Mother’s Day wishes to Mombot! i’ll have to make sure she reads through these comments. 🙂

My hubby got the iTouch…not the iPhone…but he calls it his “Electronic Misstress” He won’t go anywhere without it, he spends much time in the loo with it, he’s sad if he forgets it…It’s smooth, it’s sleek, and it’s encased in black rubber…I think I have ALOT of work to do *looks at self* LOL!!! Plus he has a texting phone that he can go online with, take pics, video…oh my

i’ve thought about dropping AT&T, getting a phone with good service in my area and just picking up an Electronic Mistr… err, iTouch of my own, ESQ, but i still love having *everything* in one device. i’m still holding out hope AT&T’ll put up another cell tower or boost the service in my area somehow! maybe when the iPhone 4 comes out…

If you need to have multiple phones for whatever reason, you might think about using GoogleVoice to “tie” them together. Each phone has a number, and you pick yet another number for GV. Thing is, when someone calls your GV number all your phones ring (a bit more complicated than that, you can set rules, etc.). You can switch from one phone to another in the middle of a call, record a call – and recorded calls and voicemail get transcribed (far from perfectly, but still useful) into text.
If you have a voice-over-IP line, you can treat that as one of your phones as well, so even if you just have your smartphone, you can use GV to switch between using the cellular network and the wireless provided by, say, the coffee shop you’re sitting in. Or take incoming calls via VOIP.

All that said, if you’re looking for a voice-only mobile phone, have a look at tracfone. If you have an ATT connected smartphone and you don’t have coverage, get a tracfone with Verizon coverage (trick: give the tracfone website a zipcode for an area without ATT coverage to get them to show you verizon phones)

I can also promise that if you start spouting this stuff to anyone who gives you a hard time about having two phones, they’ll lay off (maybe even run away). 🙂

thanks for the tips, bobkoure! i’m not to that point (getting another phone) yet, but if the service gets any worse i might just have to take drastic measures. wow, sounds like GV has a lot of cool features – no wonder Apple banned the app!

if i end up getting a TracFone, maybe i’ll ask my dad to build me a contraption that binds both it and my iPhone together. 😉

I have two phones myself. One is person, being my HTC Eris (love it!!) and a simpleton phone for work related calls. It gets old having both of them to lug around, but the work phone is paid for at least. 😀

i’ve heard good things about the Eris, TCG, and that new Droid Incredible is looking awesome, too. still, i love my iPhone and really don’t wanna be carrying around another piece of tech in my pockets. well, unless my job wants to get me one of those EVO 4G phones…

You hit the nail right on the head! I can’t even laugh because that has been the story of my life for the past 2 1/2 years!!! It’s so upsetting. Of course I stay with the company because I love the device!!! UUuuhhgg! It’s only in LA though… It works EVERYWHERE else!!!

Sadly, we NEVER get good coverage in my neighborhood. My contract is up, and pieces of my old phone have begun falling off, so I’ll likely be shopping again soon. Sadly, T-Mobile has put up a transmission tower very near our house, so I might be heading in that direction. BUT, I want to make sure to get a phone that does the things I want, so I’ll ask the fans of JB for their opinions. Things that I’d love in addition to reception at my house:

1) The ability to connect my laptop to it for internet connection (I also heard a commercial for a service that eludes me for a phone that will act as a wireless hub for up to 5 users…). Will this allow me to use my laptop to fax too?
2) An unlimited minutes plan that won’t break the bank.
3) Great coverage, since I don’t want to be stranded somewhere in Utah on a road trip to Comic-Con with no way to contact AAA.
4) A phone that’s easy to type on in case I need to e-mail.

What’s NOT important:

1) Text messaging — in fact when I first got my current phone, I started receiving a couple of texts from friends, like “Happy St. Patrick’s Day” for 20 cents a message (which sucks, but I didn’t mind as much as what followed). Almost immediately, I started getting messages from mysterious numbers from people I didn’t know containing complete nonsense — it wasn’t even spam. I think it was AT&T doing it so they could charge me 20 cents for these. At any rate, I ended up getting 25 or more of these messages before I had AT&T turn off that feature on my phone. So, don’t text me!!!

I think you are talking about a sprint commercial (“Eat it Yoshi!” sound familiar?). They have gizmos that create a hot spot for internet for multiple users. I’m not sure about the quality with sprint though because I have at&t and have an individual usb plug-in that connects me to the internet. I don’t know of any phones that create hot spots though : ( Anyone else know more about sprint?

I have a Pre with Sprint (the only service that works near my house). the next gen Pre (which Verizon has, but sprint doesn’t, at least as yet) does Wifi hot spot. Reviews are glowing.
Personally I’m a bit disappointed with the Pre due to intermittent laggy response time with apps, especially the calendar, but I can play Doom, Avatar 3d, etc!

I have a little card from sprint that they call a Myfi (i think that’s what it’s called) thats kind of a wifi hotspot I can take anywhere with me and it works great. Also has the capability of using it with mutliple devices (I use it for my laptop, PS3, and cellphone at the same time) The only complain I have is that it runs out of battery rather quickly so when I’m home I always have to plug it in. But otherwise it works great and covers my entire house. It’s supposedly up to 5mbps speed but It usually runs around the 3mbps range for me

hope you find a phone that meets those needs, Stan! i would personally LOVE your #1 – using the phone as an internet connection for a laptop. i can’t tell you how many times i’ve needed this function and the iPhone just doesn’t do it (well, in its “un-Jailbroken” state, anyway). i would even be sold WAY more on the iPad if i could pair it with my iPhone to get internet service. ah, well.

the next time i’m in front of my home computer i’ll check out exactly where you are. it’ll give me a chance to play with Google Earth some more! (actually, i have a strip due tomorrow, so maybe that’s not such a good idea…)

and glad to hear that AT&T’s not the only evil cell company out there. not that i wasn’t already aware of this, since i’ve been with Cingular and Sprint and had dead zones with them, too.

This strip is great! It cracks me up to keep hearing about how everyone in LA (land of appearances) has an iPhone, but they just don’t work when you want to actually CALL someone.

I love my Nexus One. It does all the cool stuff (well, maybe not QUITE as many apps as the iPhone), and I can use whatever service I want. I’m having lots of fun with the games. I just started a phone MMO, and when I’m done building my city, I’m going to have to get my son to show me how to do battle. 😛 Yep, I’m a noob. I’m doing ok learning the other games I downloaded tho.

I realized I never commented on the last strip! I really like the way you drew the TV shows. Cool strip. Sorry the pixels are mocking you tho…

thanks, Shanna! yes, it’s ridiculous just how bad the AT&T service is in L.A.! you’d think they’d have us well covered here since we’re a pretty high-profile city.

and yeah, if i ever end up ditching the iPhone, it’ll probably be for one of the android-based phones like the Droid Incredible or EVO 4G. still a long way from that, though. i keep holding out hope service will improve.

Hey now, just because I look for electronics with an aesthetic quality, I mean I have to stare at the thing it may as well be good looking. My laptop is pretty and functional. I have the best of both worlds in my macbook. The iPad would just be a laptop substitute when I don’t want to bring my laptop places and it is pretty :).

This strip is fantastic, bot. Funny, well drawn and inked, and soooo true. The only misrepresentation is that I LOVE my phone. It works everywhere!!! Unlike your phone which doesn’t work even if you’re standing next to an AT&T cell tower. :p Great job, man!

thanks, MC! and yes, you’ve never complained about your cell service before but i seem to remember you having problems with the little pearl “trackball” and the software on your blackberry constantly. still, that’s probably a better trade for a device that’s supposed to be used as an actual phone.

This is hilarious! What makes it so funny is the fact that I know people who own two cellphones for this particular reason! I really like how you have been experimenting with the comic layout and illustrations; it is pretty remarkable. By the way (I hope you do not take a offense to this next statement), but your drawings remind me a little of the Gorillaz. I love the band and their silly promotional games, so please take it as a compliment…because it is. 🙂 LOL Have a great weekend!

thanks, Ebony – glad you liked the strip! i’m REALLY hoping i’m not going to be one of those people who carries two cellphones, but if the gadget gods deem it so, i must carry out their will.

and thanks for the kind words about the layout and artwork – makes me happy when i hear people notice those things. and i’ll totally take the Gorillaz comparison as a compliment – i LOVE jamie hewlett’s artwork!

yeah, the apps are RAD, Natalie! i use ’em all the time. Twitterific, SoundHound, Pandora, ToyCamera and Rehearsal (self-plug) being among my favorites, not to mention all the games (like Bejeweled 2, Pac-Man CE, Words With Friends, etc.)! but yeah, if they open up the service providers on it, i’ll be a happy bot.

HA! you’re right, t_d! …or maybe since iPhones don’t work in normal situations, they would actually work in horror movie situations. would george costanza’s “law of opposites” apply in this case? hmmm…

Excellent man, i eventually gave in myself last week after years of buying ultra cheapo phones. Never really saw the point before of having an all singing all dancing mobile, i only ever used it for calls and SMS, but i did miss a lot of calls when cycling due to the fact that i tend to be listening to my mp3 player. Also the more software there is on a phone the more chances for it to crash. Fortunately a well known manufacturer that rhymes with phony recently dropped the prices on their range, so i got a (surprise surprise) ultra cheapo mp3 player phone for not much at all and now i never miss a call, and the handsfree connector lets me use my own headphones.
I am however in a two phone situation due to the fact that the sim card that came with the hand set came with non-transferable credit, so until i use that up i’m carrying the old lump about too.

Also i reckon that if i ever did get a smart phone (oxymoron alert) i’d probably get one that could run Opemoko. Not only does it appeal to my need to get into the nuts and bolts of the source code to alter it to my particular tastes and also contribute to the development process, it would also be a great opportunity to stick it to the big boys.
Take heed kiddies, this is what dabbling with linux can do to your consumer sensibilities!

before i got the iPhone, all that stuff you mentioned was happening to me on my Treo, Deaconvorbis. i had that thing stuffed with so many mp3s, videos and games that i’d have to reset it at least once a day because it would get so bogged down. loved that phone back then, but now that time seems like the dark ages!

Finaly home! Was burried in mud for four days! My grandparents place was hit by sudden heavy rain and in just two hours whole place was flooded. the fact that two drain lines join just in front of house didnt help… When it came away it left mud to above knees and thats just horrible to deal with. Grandma thought Grandpa went mad when he examined the demage only in his shorts, and he just didnt want to have his clothes ruined… Long story short My parents and me and my fathers older brother and younger sister came to help and we cleaned it up.

We got on the news thanks to it, though while we were among those who caught the worst of it, it didnt got inside niether house, just all cellars. A relative of ours can just start renovating whole house, poor bloke.

And so I link this to the strip, we all could respond so quickly and travel so fast halfway across the state is because we have phones to use them, not to show off with some useless fancy electronics. Maybe you should find that old nokia of yours, or something Jefbot and realy start to use two phones like in this strip. You might come to appreciate it next time you have an emergency like being burried under your collectibles. Abraxass might even leave it intact as it is grandpa electronics by now, not new fancy portable game console. I should know I use one.

Oh and today Slovakia lost 3:1 on World Ice Hockey Championship against Russia in our first match, so thats another reason for me to be weeping.

glad to hear no one was hurt during the flooding and that you and your family were able to help your grandparents, Maryz. sorry about the water damage, though. if you get the video from the news, send a link over.

and the problem isn’t with the iPhone, it’s with the service – the iPhone works great and can make calls perfectly, it’s AT&T’s coverage area that sucks.

So many apps, it’ll make my brain hurt! That and I couldn’t get a iPhone. I’m none too nice to my cell phone.
Can’t get a touch screen or it’ll die faster than my house plants. And no, I don’t have a green thumb.